Sarasota Fishing Report
Month by Month.
What's actually biting in Sarasota, broken down for all twelve months — plus live tides, red tide status, and wind before you launch. Written from the water, not a template.
Fishing in September? → See the September bite
What's Biting in Sarasota?
The bite runs on the calendar here. Tarpon own the early summer beaches, snapper stack on nearshore reefs through the heat, redfish gang up in the fall, and sheepshead carry the cold months. Pick the month you're fishing below — each page has the species, the spots, the tides, and the bait.
Season dates control what you can keep — snook, grouper, and trout each close for part of the year. The month pages flag every closure, and the FWC regulations guide has the current rules. Verify before you fish. The whole year at a glance is in the Sarasota fishing calendar.
Sarasota Fishing, Month by Month.
Twelve months, twelve patterns. Each page is the seasonal read for that month — what's peaking, where it holds, and how to fish it.
January The year's best redfish sight-fishing on the winter negative lows. See the January bite → 
February The sheepshead spawn peaks — the year's biggest fish on the jetties. See the February bite → 
March Snook harvest opens March 1 as the spring runs arrive. See the March bite → 
April Peak pelagics — kings, Spanish, cobia, and pompano all at once. See the April bite → 
May Tarpon arrive in force; snook harvest closes May 1. See the May bite → 
June Peak tarpon, beach to pass; snook spawn stacks the biggest fish. See the June bite → 
July Mangrove snapper spawn peaks as the tarpon run winds down. See the July bite → 
August Night dock-light snook peaks in the last month of the closure. See the August bite → 
September · This month Redfish start schooling on the bars as the bait floods in. See the September bite → 
October Calm mornings open the beaches and buoy lines most weeks. See the October bite → 
November The last keeper-snook month, with the fall run's thinnest crowds. See the November bite → 
December The calm, warming days between cold fronts fish beautifully. See the December bite → How Do I Check Sarasota Conditions Right Now?
Three checks before any trip: today's tide swing, the marine wind forecast, and red tide status. The live tide and weather dashboard is on our homepage tides & weather section; the guides below explain how to read them.
Today's tide curve, wind, and solunar windows for Sarasota Bay — live on the homepage dashboard.
Open the dashboard →Which tide stages fish best at the passes and flats, and how to plan around the new/full-moon swings.
Read the guide →Current bloom status, what counts as fishable, and which beaches to avoid when cell counts climb.
Check red tide →The forecast tools we actually use before calling a Gulf run — and how to read the summer seabreeze storm pattern.
See the tools →Primary sources: NOAA St. Petersburg water data, the NWS Tampa Bay marine forecast, the FWC red tide status map (updates daily ~5 p.m.), and Mote Marine's beach conditions reports.